Shri Shiva Chalisa : श्री शिव चालीसा

970

Devotional hymn to Lord Shiva, of 40 verses. Sage Markandeya was saved by Lord Shiva of certain death at the age of 16 by killing the God of death. This stotra is supposed to have been sung by the sage after that.

Shri Shiv Chalisa Translation In English

Glory to Lord Ganesh, the Divine Son of Goddess Girija, the cause of all auspiciousness and intelligence. Ayodha Dass (the composer of these verses) humbly requests that every one be blessed with the boon of being fearless.

O Glorious Lord, consort of Parvati You are most merciful. You always bless the poor and pious devotees. Your beautiful form is adorned with the moon on Your forehead and on your ears are earrings of snakes′ hood.

The holy Ganges flows from your matted hair. The saints and sages are attracted by Your splendid appearance. Around Your neck is a garland of skulls. White ash beautifies Your Divine form and clothing of lion′s skin adorns Your body.

Nandi and Shri Ganesh along with Lord Shiva appear as beautiful as two lotuses in the middle of an ocean. Poets and philosophers cannot describe the wonderful appearance of Lord Kartikeya and the dark complexioned Ganas (attendants).

O Lord, whenever the Deities humbly sought Your assistance, You kindly and graciously uprooted all their problems. You blessed the Deities with Your generous help when the demon Tarak outraged them and You destroyed him.

Lord, when the ocean was churned and the deadly poison emerged, out of Your deep compassion for all, You drank the poison and saved the world from destruction. Your throat became blue, thus You are known as Nilakantha.

When Lord Rama worshipped You, He became victorious over the king of demons, Ravana. When Lord Rama wished to worship Thee with one thousand lotus flowers, the Divine Mother, to test the devotion of Shri Ram, hid all the flowers at Your request.

O Lord, You kept on looking at Shri Ram, who wished to offer His lotus-like eyes to worship Thee. When You observed such intense devotion, You were delighted and blessed Him. You granted His heart′s desire.

Glory be unto You O Gracious, Infinite, Immortal, All-pervading Lord. Evil thought torture me and I keep on travelling aimlessly in this world of mundane existence. No relief seems to be coming my way.

O Lord, when I am in distress, neither my parents, brothers, sisters nor loved ones can relieve my suffering. I depend only on You. You are my hope. Eliminate the cause of this tremendous torture and bless me with Your compassion.

O Lord Sankar, You are the destroyer of all miseries. You remove the cause of all obstacles and grant Your devotees eternal bliss. The saints and sages meditate upon Thy most beautiful form. Even celestial beings like Sharad and Narad bow in reverence to You.

Devotees who chant these verses with intense love become prosperous by the grace of Lord Shiva. Even the childless wishing to have children, have their desires fulfilled after partaking of Shiva-prasad with faith and devotion.

On Trayodashi (13th day of the dark and bright fortnights) one should invite a pandit and devotedly make offerings to Lord Shiva. Those who fast and pray to Lord Shiva on Trayodashi are always healthy and prosperous.

Whosoever offers incense, prasad and performs arti to Lord Shiva, with love and devotion, enjoys material happiness and spiritual bliss in this world and hereafter ascends to the abode of Lord Shiva. The poet prays that Lord Shiva removed the suffering of all and grants them eternal bliss.